Rooney has featured in central midfield recently.
McIlroy said: “Wayne has all the attributes to be a fantastic central midfield player and become the new Bobby Charlton for United and England. Bobby played wide left before he made the move inside and developed into the world class player we all remember.
“Wayne has shown his ability to play there. It gives him the opportunity to be more involved and influence the way the team plays.
“He’s got the vision, the range of passing and the energy to cover the ground for 90 minutes, just like Bobby. He’s also got a fantastic shot with his right foot, although Bobby was fantastic with his right and his left! Some people say you’d lose goals from him if he played midfield, but I don’t think that’s necessarily so.
“Rooney would have the space to shoot from distance and also make runs into the box to score, in the same way that Bryan Robson and Paul Scholes did. Frank Lampard has been doing that for years. Steven Gerrard, too. And they’ve done it from midfield.
“Wayne would learn how to make those runs and master the role.”
